Hearing Specialists in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho

At Hearing By Design, we’re committed to helping our Clients restore their hearing and improve their quality of life. Armed with the latest hearing loss treatments, we’ll help you get back to doing what you love. Meet our team of highly qualified hearing experts.

Elizabeth Miller, BC-HIS
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences, Owner

Elizabeth has always felt a passion for the hearing profession. Initially she decided to get a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work from the University of Oregon. She was licensed in Oregon as a Hearing Instrument Specialist in 2008.

Elizabeth continued to work toward her goal of becoming Board Certified in 2018 while obtaining her Washington State License in 2018. At that time, she began working with Mr. Rick Giles who mentored her and transitioned his successful business into her ownership in 2020. Rick Giles is continuing to mentor Elizabeth and is also the former President of the International Hearing Society. Mrs. Miller is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Washington Hearing society. As of 2022, Elizabeth has been elected to the NBC-HIS Executive Council.

National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences (NBC-HIS) Board Member

Rick Giles, BC-HIS
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences

Rick stumbled onto the profession as a young man looking for a career where he could not only help people but also make a decent living. After a few unsatisfying years in the major appliance business in 1981 as the father of an infant with a second child on the way Rick used the then “National Hearing Aid Society Distance-Learning Course” to study for the Washington state licensing exam.

Following a short stint with hearing aid offices in Vancouver and Longview WA he went to work with Dan Quall in 1986 as a field consultant. Within a few years he worked his way up to managing their Vancouver office, which he purchased in 1994. Ear-Care Hearing Aid Center, DBA Hearing by Design is a private practice dispensing office located in Rick’s home town of Vancouver Washington. Elizabeth Miller purchased the business in 2020, Rick is now semi-retired and works for Elizabeth 1 week a month. Rick is Married to Ann Cockram, whom he first met in junior high school. Ann is a retired educator and recently retired from managing the Washington Education Association health care plan’s online enrollment. He has three children ages 34 to 40, and an Australian Shepard named Dakota Jak aka Kody, who served as Rick’s offices’ official greeter.

Rick has worked in the hearing aid industry for over 40 years. He joined the International Hearing Society in 1986 and is a Past President (2016 – 2018) after serving on the board of governors for the previous 10 years. He received his National Board Certification in 1992 and completed the American Conference of Audioprosthology program in 2009. Rick holds licensure in both Oregon and Washington is a past member of the Washington Department of Health, Board for Hearing & Speech. Rick has held just about every office in the Washington Hearing Society and is the current President. He was instrumental in helping pass several pieces of important legislation, is past President of the Oregon Hearing Society and past board member of the International Institute for Hearing Instrument Studies. Rick is very active in community service having serving on many boards including his church council, Fort Vancouver Lions, Northwest Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation, Audient low cost hearing aid program and the Clark County Lions Hearing Foundation. Rick is an avid skier and sailor; in all his spare time he enjoys buying old sailboats retrofitting them and selling them at a loss.

Breanna Perkins, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

Breanna began working as a receptionist for Hearing by Design back in 2012 after completing her bachelors degree in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology from Washington State University. She quickly fell in love with the work and being able to help people hear better.

Rick Giles became her mentor and she enrolled back into college, completing a two year associates degree in the Hearing Instrument Specialist program through Spokane Community College. Breanna passed her state board exams in 2015 and has been a licensed Hearing Aid Specialist ever since. She loves the work that she does and loves this office. She says they have all grown up together and are a family. Breanna came into this office at 22 years old and her colleagues have been there to watch her grow up, meet her husband Tanner, get married, and have her first daughter, Quinn.

Jenni Cochran, BC-HIS
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences

Jenni received her AAS degree in Hearing Instrument Science from Spokane Falls Community College. Originally from Minnesota, she has lived in New York City and Spokane before relocating to Vancouver in 2022.

Jenni’s interests include spending time with her husband and her dogs, reading, being creative with art and crafts, road trips and exploring the PNW. Jenni became interested in hearing science when Covid first hit the United States. She began to notice more and more people struggling to hear and understand with face mask use. She realized there were so many people that needed help with their hearing health that she took the leap to go back to school to learn new skills and become a hearing aid specialist.

Ken Lord, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

Ken Lord, HIS, Hearing Instrument Specialist, owner of Best Care Hearing Aid Center, is an Oregon native and received his degree from Portland State. Ken has been fitting hearing technology for 12 years and specializes in digital technology.

Ken will demonstrate the best hearing solutions to fit your lifestyle and budget. Ken enjoys being around people and knowing that he’s making a difference in their lives by helping them hear better. He strives to offer you an exceptional patient experience. Outside of the office, Ken enjoys spending his time on the golf course.

Jim Bruns, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

LeAnne McEachern, Au.D.
Doctor of Audiology

LeAnne grew up in the Willamette Valley picking berries and tending animals on the family farm. She graduated from Canby High School as an honor student active in forensics, drama, dance team and Rainbow. She graduated in Communications from Lewis and Clark College in Portland with academic honors.

She went on to earn her Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from the University of Washington graduating Sigma Cum Laude. Dr. McEachern worked for Dr. Richard Vorhees in Seattle and later Dr. John Epley in Portland, both internationally recognized Otologists. Dr. McEachern started her private audiology practice and hearing aid center in 1982 in Newport, Oregon. In 2008 Dr. McEachern earned her Doctorate in Audiology with a perfect 4.0 GPA from A.T. Still University, Arizona School of Health Sciences. She continues to offer comprehensive and caring hearing services in Lincoln County.

Keith Marquand, HIS, Haring Instrument Specialist

Keith Marquand, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

Keith grew up in the Willamette Valley attending high school in Gladstone, Oregon. After high school Keith volunteered with the local fire district and eventually became an Emergency Medical Technician 2 (EMT) and worked for the local ambulance company.

In 1994 Keith moved to the Oregon coast and worked with the local ambulance. Keith worked for a time with the local supermarket and noticed that he had a hearing problem. He made an appointment to see Dr. McEachern. He was successfully fitted with hearing instruments and was later offered a job working with Dr. McEachern. Keith earned his Hearing Aid Specialist License in 2007. In 2009 Keith also became certified as an Occupational Hearing Conservationist. Keith enjoys walks on the beach, traveling, photography, and patient care.

Brianne Holley, A.A.S, BC-HIS
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences

Brianne Holley is an experienced Hearing Instrument Specialist working for Hearing by Design. Her career in the healthcare field began in 2008 when she worked as a receptionist in an Audiology/Otolaryngology office; she was later promoted to an Audiology Assistant within the same organization. She takes pride in providing exceptional patient care; and works diligently to ensure every patient is heard and cared for.

Brianne holds an Associate of Applied Science degree from Spokane Falls Community College in Washington state. She graduated with honors in 2017 from the college’s residency Hearing Instrument Specialist program. In her role as a hearing healthcare provider, she makes every effort to improve Clients’ lives through better hearing and enhanced communication techniques.

Brianne, her husband Nick, and daughter Tessa moved to Star, Idaho from Vancouver, Washington in 2022. They love spending time together as a family and enjoy the outdoors. They have two dogs (Jack-Jack and Fred), one cat (Nightwing) and one bearded dragon (Eggo). The family is excited to see what Idaho has to offer, and what they can offer Idaho!

Mark Sturtevant, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

Mark Sturtevant entered the field of hearing health care in January, 1983, and became licensed to dispense hearing systems in August of the same year. In May of 1994, Mark opened Joyful Sound Hearing in Dallas, Oregon, in the Main Street Plaza where it is located today.

Mark was initially attracted to hearing health care because of his own hearing impairment of a total hearing loss in one ear. This has given him a deep compassion and understanding for individuals who suffer from hearing loss.

Over the years, and after thousands of clients, Mark is very aware that proper correction of hearing loss is a combination of good technology and art. Leonardo Da Vinci said “art and science are disciplines that must walk together hand in hand.” Mark strives to blend these two every day. He does this by paying careful attention to understanding each individual person, their lifestyle, challenges and motivating factors for wanting to hear more clearly. He then matches the person with a hearing system that is best suited for their lifestyle, cosmetic preference and affordability. Using today’s digital technology, he applies prescriptive formulas for a clear, natural, comfortable sound that fulfills his holistic approach, giving his clients very satisfying results.

Christie Mattice, BC-HIS
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences

Doug Welsh, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

Emmanuel Beaulieu, B.A, BC-HIS
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences

Aimee Seely-Fadich, MS, CCC-A
Audiologist

Aimee Seely-Fadich is a clinical audiologist with special interest in hearing aid and assistive device technology. She completed her Masters Degree from San Francisco State University.

She was the first fellow granted research time beyond her clinical training at the Portland VA Medical Center. Areas of research included tinnitus and ototoxicity. Aimee has now been working for 26 years in our valley. She is married to Dr. Michael Fadich and they have two sons. Hiking, biking, skiing, gardening, cooking and junk welding are a few of the ways she enjoys time out of the office.

“I feel privileged to be invited into peoples lives. They share how they have stopped doing things and the strain on their relationships because of their hearing loss. I feel honored by their trust in my recommendations. It is so rewarding to witness confidence building in their hearing and watch people become connected again.”

Carl Arends, HIS
Hearing Instrument Specialist

Sheryl Arends, BC-HIS, ACA
Board Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences

Vera Cooly
Patient Care Coordinator

Kim Jones
Patient Care Coordinator

Sheila Havig
Patient Care Coordinator

Tanner Bingham
Patient Care Coordinator, Provider in Training

Sarah Riebe
Patient Care Coordinator

Danielle Gray
Patient Care Coordinator

Danielle joined the medical field in 2013 first as a receptionist for a very busy ophthalmology practice, but by December 2016 decided to make the switch to hearing health care.

Originally from Paradise, California, Danielle has been in Florence since November 2018 after the ‘Camp Fire’ took the entire town of Paradise. She joined the Best for Hearing family in January 2021. Danielle has over 15 years of customer service and scheduling experience and is a people person, with great respect and love for our Veterans. Danielle has a husband with severe hearing loss and can relate firsthand to individuals living with those who are hard of hearing. When not at work, Danielle loves to spend time with her dog (a dachshund puppy named Bubba, who often goes to work with her) go shopping with her aunt or simply strolling up and down the boardwalk in Old Town Florence.

Tina Moran
Patient Care Coordinator

Kelsie Agnew
Patient Care Coordinator

Hearing Specialists in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho

Hearing By Design

10 Locations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho